It appears FARMS has scrambled since Doctor Scratch called attention to the significant delay of volume 22 and got their manuscripts to the press. After years of denying that Rodney Meldrum is a significant factor in the Book of Mormon geography debate, they've finally owned up to what the Martin Marty Institute and everyone else already knows: Meldrum is slowly taking over Book of Mormon geography.

13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.(Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 22:13 - 14)

If by 'sneak attack' you mean using a venue they've used for years to review books which they do in every issue and that choosing a book to review in their usual field is unexpected then yes, your OP is accurate.

It's a sneak attack in the sense that DCP has been drawing attention away from any effort to confront Meldrum, and now publishes a lengthy confrontation at an odd date -- out of the blue; no one was expecting the content nor the date of the content delivery.

_________________I did not say, nor do I believe, that women are to be ruled over by men. Or that they are "wired" to be ruled over by men. - MG

I am simply arguing that there are [inherent gender] differences. In the church there is room for progress and improvement in a male hierarchy that 'rules the roost'. - MG

It's a sneak attack in the sense that DCP has been drawing attention away from any effort to confront Meldrum,

No, not really.

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and now publishes a lengthy confrontation at an odd date

Only if you define the publication date as odd for some reason.

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-- out of the blue; no one was expecting the content nor the date of the content delivery.

No one was expecting the content except those who read the blurb for that volume that made it clear it was coming. They likely expected it. What do you expect in a collection of book reviews? That you'll be able to predict what books will be reviewed in the next issue and your ouija board failed?

You're shocked because it creates the proper emotional effect and creates publicity for the eventual performance by the board-renowned Cassius Clowns.

It is difficult to know what to say about Rodney, Bruce, and the gang. I mean, I certainly don't blame them for reading the Book of Mormon in a straightforward sense, unlike those who comb the ruins of Mesoamerica dreaming of Nephites, but there is a distinctly Tea Party odor about the whole thing that does not sit well with me.

On the other hand, I am not keen on the kind of snobbery that automatically derides anyone who is not familiar with the Byzantine nonsense known as the LGT, wherein cardinal directions have to be shifted so many degrees to read the landscape correctly, and one should not expect to find any remains of a minor polity of 1,000,000 souls. The whole thing is a convoluted and self-contradictory disaster.

_________________"He who sees only with the eyes of reason has no occasion for spectacles."~Vizir Rustan, The Magic Spectacles

It is difficult to know what to say about Rodney, Bruce, and the gang. I mean, I certainly don't blame them for reading the Book of Mormon in a straightforward sense, unlike those who comb the ruins of Mesoamerica dreaming of Nephites, but there is a distinctly Tea Party odor about the whole thing that does not sit well with me.

You object to grass roots advocacy? It wouldn't be necessary, if the Brethren actually saw, revealed, and produced something close to prophecy.

_________________(Nevo, Jan 23) And the Melchizedek Priesthood may not have been restored until the summer of 1830, several months after the organization of the Church.

I have expected the MI to review Meldrum for a long time. After all, they review virtually every scrap of paper talking about Book of Mormon Geography. It does indeed make sense that the MI would review it. However, they haven't, and when asked about it, DCP has often said that Meldrum isn't on their radar. Sure, it doesn't make sense, but that's how it's been played, and now there is this massive undertaking to bury Meldrum, out of the blue, surprise!

_________________I did not say, nor do I believe, that women are to be ruled over by men. Or that they are "wired" to be ruled over by men. - MG

I am simply arguing that there are [inherent gender] differences. In the church there is room for progress and improvement in a male hierarchy that 'rules the roost'. - MG

However, they haven't, and when asked about it, DCP has often said that Meldrum isn't on their radar. Sure, it doesn't make sense, but that's how it's been played, and now there is this massive undertaking to bury Meldrum, out of the blue, surprise!

LOL. Indeed, Dean Robbers. He is not important until he is. Which means he would only be important when the reviews could do the talking.

_________________"He who sees only with the eyes of reason has no occasion for spectacles."~Vizir Rustan, The Magic Spectacles

You object to grass roots advocacy? It wouldn't be necessary, if the Brethren actually saw, revealed, and produced something close to prophecy.

LOL. What to say about this? So, harmony determines that I object to grassroots advocacy in principle because I am not enthused about all aspects of Mr. Meldrum's movement? A little Logic 101 could go a long way here.

I am uneasy with what I take to be a jingoistic subtext in the rhetoric of the movement. I don't think this is the kind of thing that an international church would want to promote, and I think there is every reason to be a little uneasy about all of the wacko patriotic movements sweeping the US these days.

What the "Brethren" do is not my concern.

_________________"He who sees only with the eyes of reason has no occasion for spectacles."~Vizir Rustan, The Magic Spectacles

Doctor Peterson himself is calling attention to the unusual and "convenient" timing of the printing of volume 22 in relation to Doctor Scratch's inquiry into the volume's delay. He's envisioning scenarios by which the two events could likely be considered unrelated.

_________________I did not say, nor do I believe, that women are to be ruled over by men. Or that they are "wired" to be ruled over by men. - MG

I am simply arguing that there are [inherent gender] differences. In the church there is room for progress and improvement in a male hierarchy that 'rules the roost'. - MG

Doctor Peterson himself is calling attention to the unusual and "convenient" timing of the printing of volume 22 in relation to Doctor Scratch's inquiry into the volume's delay. He's envisioning scenarios by which the two events could likely be considered unrelated.

I am pleased that the esteemed Dr. Peterson is giving Cassius University some free press.

_________________"He who sees only with the eyes of reason has no occasion for spectacles."~Vizir Rustan, The Magic Spectacles

I have expected the MI to review Meldrum for a long time. After all, they review virtually every scrap of paper talking about Book of Mormon Geography. It does indeed make sense that the MI would review it. However, they haven't, and when asked about it, DCP has often said that Meldrum isn't on their radar. Sure, it doesn't make sense, but that's how it's been played, and now there is this massive undertaking to bury Meldrum, out of the blue, surprise!

However DCP is not writing the piece. Was it solicited? Volunteered? If the work was volunteered that would suggest that Meldrum might still not be on their radar.

However, feel free to play it up as a 'watershed moment'. Your master Scratch will be pleased with his toady's performance.

I have expected the MI to review Meldrum for a long time. After all, they review virtually every scrap of paper talking about Book of Mormon Geography. It does indeed make sense that the MI would review it. However, they haven't, and when asked about it, DCP has often said that Meldrum isn't on their radar. Sure, it doesn't make sense, but that's how it's been played, and now there is this massive undertaking to bury Meldrum, out of the blue, surprise!

However DCP is not writing the piece. Was it solicited? Volunteered? If the work was volunteered that would suggest that Meldrum might still not be on their radar.

However, feel free to play it up as a 'watershed moment'. Your master Scratch will be pleased with his toady's performance.

Quite the reactionary you are Nehor. A 150+ page review from one of their regulars, and takes up more than 1/2 of the pages of the current issue. Sounds like it came out of the blue and wasn't on their radar. Get real.

But if you weren't so reactionary and insisting on denigrating Dean Gad by calling him a toadie, you'd have realized this undercuts one of Doc Scratch's intel reports: that the Packer Faction has told the NAMIRS crowd to play nice with TBMs and their heroes like Meldrum. That Dean Gad would break this news, and describe it as he does, is testimony to his integrity and that of Cassius U. If we were the type of hacks that fill the halls at NAMIRS, Dean Gad would have remained quiet in deference to Doc Scratch. But you and your knee-jerk reaction suckered right in. You just couldn't help yourself in posting a besmirching comment about Dean Gad.

I'd normally say get a life, but it seems it would help you more to get some perspective.

I'd normally say get a life, but it seems it would help you more to get some perspective.

This sort of unthinking, knee-jerk reaction by young Nehor is a clear example of Mopologetic methodology. Clearly he did not bother to read Dean Robbers' post carefully enough to avoid looking silly in his response.

Still, he isn't another Nomad, and that is something for which we can all be grateful.

_________________"He who sees only with the eyes of reason has no occasion for spectacles."~Vizir Rustan, The Magic Spectacles

This is fascinating indeed. It raises a number of interesting and provocative questions. Let me address a few different things here:

The Nehor wrote:

However DCP is not writing the piece. Was it solicited?

Virtually 100% of the publications in the FARMS Review are "solicited." The publication has---shall we say---a very unique and peculiar method of gathering its articles.

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Volunteered? If the work was volunteered that would suggest that Meldrum might still not be on their radar.

There is no question that Meldrum et al. have been "on [the] radar" of the Powers-that-Be at FARMS. I'm guessing that Greg "The Fly" Smith was "anointed" with the responsibility of writing a hit-piece on Meldrum after Midgley failed to have Meldrum's book yanked from the shelves of Deseret Book. We know, thanks to one of my "informants" and Dr. Shades, that Midgley was on a hate-fueled campaign to discredit and attack Meldrum---going so far as to physically confront Meldrum at a conference, and of course, trying to have the book pulled. (I have strong reason to believe that Midgley used his connections in the Twelve to try and get Prophesies and Promises out of DesBook.)

So, in a sense, the timing *is* very, very interesting. It's very intriguing that this attack comes in the wake of the FAIR Conference, with Will Schryver's much-hyped (but now discredited) Book of Abraham presentation. I sense somewhat that the behind-the-scenes tides have shifted slightly in favor of the apologists. Is President Packer ill, perhaps? In any event, it will be extremely interesting to see whether the apologists wind up getting scolded for this.

_________________"[I]f, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14

It appears FARMS has scrambled since Doctor Scratch called attention to the significant delay of volume 22 and got their manuscripts to the press. After years of denying that Rodney Meldrum is a significant factor in the Book of Mormon geography debate, they've finally owned up to what the Martin Marty Institute and everyone else already knows: Meldrum is slowly taking over Book of Mormon geography.

You're absolutely right, Dr. Robbers. Something else worth bearing in mind is the fact that Dr. Peterson is making this announcement mere hours after losing his cool and posting an anger-laced diatribe in response to the fact that we caught him fantasizing about living in a totalitarian theocracy known for its harsh and unfair treatment of women.

Ben McGuire, Review of Ross Anderson, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book, 163

One of our number crunchers out there can confirm that this is a lot of pages devoted to Meldrum.

For the record, once this volume comes online, I will be personally reviewing the Meldrum chapter.

I wonder: when was the last time that they devoted an article of this length to a single author? I know that Metcalfe holds the record. FARMS practically exists for the sole reason of reviewing his work. And Vogel has had his fair number of pages, too, as has Quinn. But this is remarkable---to have a novella-length article dedicated to attacking and smearing a Chapel Mormon.

_________________"[I]f, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14